Latch.



PATENTED JULY 7, 1908.

F. N. BEACOM.

LATCH. APPLIOATION FILED Nov.so,19o7.

spective view of the latch.

CIC

PATENT onnrcn.

FRANK N. BEACOM, OF MANCHESTER, IOWA.

LATCH.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July '7, 1908.

Application filed November 30, 1907. Serial No. 404,517.-

To all, whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANK N. BEACOM, citizen of the United States, residing at Manchester, in the county of Delaware and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Latches, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is an improved door latch which is designed for use on barn, stable, or shop doors or the like, and the invention consists in certain constructions and arrangements of parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved latch as viewed from the inside of the door. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the door casing showing the door and the latch in elevation. Fig.-3 is a horizontal section on the line of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail per- Fig. 5 is a view 1n elevation showing the latch applied to a sliding door. Fig. 6 is a detail view in perspective showing another modified form of the keeper.

,lorresponding and like parts are lreferred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawing by the same reference characters.

My improved latch is illustrated in connection with a hinged door 1 and its casing 2, the free edge of the door being recessed as indicated at 3. 'A latch bar 4 is attached to the door 1 and is preferably constructed of an integral strip of metal doubled upon itself intermediate of its ends to form an edge bar 5 which is received in the recess 3, and side bars 6 and 6u that extend from the free edge of the door l on opposite sides thereof and substantially perpendicular to the said free edge. The latch bar 4 is pivotally secured to the door by means of a bolt or the like passing through the door and the extremities of the respective side bars 6 and 6, said side bars being curved throughout part of their length outwardly from the door to form handles 7 whereby the latch bar may be easily raised. A wear plate S is attached to the door preferably contiguous to the outer end of the side bar 6'l and a guide bar 9 is curved at each end to form a sleeve 10 and is secured to the wear plate S by screws or the like passing through said sleeves and the said wear plate. This guide bar extends across the corresponding end of said bar 6u and serves to prevent any movement thereof outwardly from the door 1. A spring 1,1 is secured to the door intermediate of its ends with one endbearing upon the pivoted end of the side bar 6a and the other end bearing upon the outer end thereof, said spring eX- erting its tension to hold the latch-bar 4 in its normal position.

The casing 2 is formed with a shoulder 12 against which the door is designed to abut when it is in closed position, said shoulder being preferably formed with a recess 13 .in registry with the recess 3 in the edge of the door. A hooked keeper 14 is secured to the j amb of the door casing 2 contiguous to the recess 13 of the shoulder, the hooked end 15 of said keeper being parallel to the jamb and the upper edge of said end being inclined backwardly as shown.

Upon the movement of the door to closed position the outer end of the side bar 6L abuts against the hooked end 15 of the keeper and rides up the inclined edge of said hooked end into the recess 13 of the shoulder 12 and thus automatically raises the latch bar 4t. The spring 11 returns said latch bar to its normal position and lowers it into engagement with the hooked end of the keeper to hold the door in closed position. To open the' door, the latch bar 4 is raised by means of a handle 7 out of engagement with the keeper 14.

A keeper 16 is secured on the outside of the building and has its hooked end 17 inclined inwardly toward such building. This keeper is arranged for engagement with the handle 7 of the side bar 6 and is designed to hold the door in open position.

lVhen my improved latch is applied to a sliding door, the keeper 16 is substituted for the keeper 14 and is arranged for engagement with the edge bar as shown in Fig. 5.

Another modification of the keeper is shown in Fig. 6 and embodies a keeper 18 which comprises two triangular pieces 19 and a cross piece 2() connecting the Same, the opposite edges thereof sloping correspondingly from the opposite ends of the said cross piece, the pieces 19 lying in parallel planes and being formed with openings 21. This keeper is secured to the inner face of a door jamb, by screws or the like passing through the openings 21, with its upper triangular piece spaced from said jamb and serving a similar purpose as the hooked end 15 of the keeper 14. It Will be obvious that this keeper because of its peculiar construction may be employed in connection with either right or left-hand swinging doors.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

l. The combination with a door and its easing, of a latch bar pivotally connected to the door, a keeper secured vto the casing and arranged for engagement by the latch bar, and a spring strip extending along one side of the latch bar and secured at an intermediate point to the door, one extremity of said strip bearing against the pivoted end of the latch bar and the other extremity bearing against the swinging end thereof.

2. The combination with a door, of a latch bar pivotally connected at its ends to the door at both sides thereof and extending across the edge of the door, and a spring having one end bearing upon the latch bar at the pivoted end thereof and extending along the side of the door with its other end bearing against the swinging end of the latch bar, the spring being secured intermediate of its ends to the door.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK N. BEACOM. lVitnesses:

E. N. WoLooTT, W. l/V. MATTHEWS. 

